George Snell and Francis Splichal

[Gregory E. Davis]

Hello Gentlemen; Do any of you know of or have any information/ history regarding these two individuals other than what Barry Storm says about them in his book. "Thunder Gods Gold"? Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

 

[PotBelly Jim]

Hello Gentlemen; Do any of you know of or have any information/ history regarding these two individuals other than what Barry Storm says about them in his book. "Thunder Gods Gold"? Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

Hi Greg,

As far as Frank Splichal, he was a resident of Apache Junction for many years. An overview: He was born in Kansas 1919, went to Emporia State University for 2 years. He was training to be a teacher. It’s possible he responded to one of Storm’s adverts and came to the Supes around this time, maybe on his summer break? At any rate, he stayed in AZ. He was inducted from Phoenix into the Army Air Corps 23 Jan 43, discharged 26 Feb 46, at which time he returned to the valley and lived in Scottsdale.

When the BLM opened up the area around Apache Junction for 5 acre homesteads in the ‘50’s, he received a patent for 5 acres (1953) off what is now the intersection of N. Vista Rd. and SR 88. Just to the south of the Dash In at the intersection of Lost Dutchman Blvd and Apache Trail.

He lived there for many years and was appointed the postmaster of Apache Junction in1966. He held the job until retirement in 1980. He was also a member of the Pinal Co. Historical Society and was their treasurer 1968-69 and was instrumental in getting their museum financed through donations and grants.

At some point after his retirement he sold his 5 acres in AJ and moved up on Power Rd. He married late in life, and retired to Leisure World in Mesa. He survived his wife, passed away in Mesa in 2013 and was buried in a family plot in Kansas.

Attached is a pic from his college yearbook in 1939, about how he would’ve looked while in the mountains with Storm.

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Hi Greg,

As far as Frank Splichal, he was a resident of Apache Junction for many years. An overview: He was born in Kansas 1919, went to Emporia State University for 2 years. He was training to be a teacher. It’s possible he responded to one of Storm’s adverts and came to the Supes around this time, maybe on his summer break? At any rate, he stayed in AZ. He was inducted from Phoenix into the Army Air Corps 23 Jan 43, discharged 26 Feb 46, at which time he returned to the valley and lived in Scottsdale.

When the BLM opened up the area around Apache Junction for 5 acre homesteads in the ‘50’s, he received a patent for 5 acres (1953) off what is now the intersection of N. Vista Rd. and SR 88. Just to the south of the Dash In at the intersection of Lost Dutchman Blvd and Apache Trail.

He lived there for many years and was appointed the postmaster of Apache Junction in1966. He held the job until retirement in 1980. He was also a member of the Pinal Co. Historical Society and was their treasurer 1968-69 and was instrumental in getting their museum financed through donations and grants.

At some point after his retirement he sold his 5 acres in AJ and moved up on Power Rd. He married late in life, and retired to Leisure World in Mesa. He survived his wife, passed away in Mesa in 2013 and was buried in a family plot in Kansas.

Attached is a pic from his college yearbook in 1939, about how he would’ve looked while in the mountains with Storm. View attachment 2001102

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Good morning Jim: Wow, what a wonder reply to my request about Frank Splichal. He having been a member of the Pinal County Historical Society leads me to believe he may have left some paper with the society archives which may reflect on his adventures in the Superstition Mountains. Worth looking into. Many thanks, Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

 

[Matthew Roberts]

Greg,
The man on the left in the photo is George Snell.
Next to him is Chuck Aylor, Peg Aylor and Roy Bradford.
Snell was a friend of Al Reser and searched on Malapai, Geroimo Head and Bluff Spring mountains.

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Hello all: I was doing some calculations and it appears that Frank Splichal was about 18 when he accompanied George Snell and Barry Storm into the Superstition Mountains. Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

 

[PotBelly Jim]

Hello all: I was doing some calculations and it appears that Frank Splichal was about 18 when he accompanied George Snell and Barry Storm into the Superstition Mountains. Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

Looks that way to me too, Greg. One thing I noticed on the census, his father and mother were both from Czechoslovakia, and his father didn't seem to be working, looking for public work, or living on a farm in both 1930 and 1940. Kansas was dealing with both the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

When Frank went to college, he was attending Emporia State, but back then it was a teacher's college. Much like ASU, it began as a Normal School, then became a Teacher's College.

According to Storm, Splichal was in the Supes in Jun-Sep of 1937. It appears that Splichal was on his summer break before entering college. He went to college in 1938/39, and by 1940 he was working as a teacher at the Jefferson Center School in Munden, Kansas. I suspect he may have spent summers or time off in the Supes. Storm talks about 2 of his "prior expedition members" in the dust-up over the "Peralta mines", but he isn't clear if he's talking about Snell and Splichal, or Upson and Burbridge....or someone else.

At some point between 1940 and 1942, Splichal moves back to AZ, because he's inducted into the service for WW2 in Phoenix (Jan 43), which is his residence. When he comes back from the war, he settled in Scottsdale (still a farming community then), and his parents leave Kansas and move in with him.

His father passed away while they lived in Scottsdale. His mother moved with him from Scottsdale to Apache Junction when he gets his veterans 5 acre homestead in AJ in the early '50's.

 

[PotBelly Jim]

Greg:
Just to clarify Splichal's age, he was born on 12 Mar 1919, so for sure he was 18 in the summer of 1937 when he was in the mountains with Storm. He was listed as a freshman at Emporia State in 38/39 school year, and a member of the class of 1942 in the 39/40 school year. He apparently left school early and got a job at the Jefferson Center School in 1940.

And, his presence in the Supes in Sep of 1937 was confirmed in George Snell's 23 JUL 1957 letter to Chuck Aylor. In the letter, Snell mentions Splichal a few times. So we know that Storm and Snell agree on the time-frame Frank was in the mountains in 1937.

Not to go over old ground, but for folks following along: Snell had written Chuck Aylor in 1957 regarding some questions Chuck had asked him on "Jenkin's Lost Lode". Snell and Splichal had accompanied Storm and Bill Jenkins in Sep of 1937, trying to find the place where Jenkins had found his gold specimen.

Storm concealed some things about Jenkin's Lost Lode in his Book "Thunder God's Gold", which Snell was explaining to Aylor in the letter.

Al Reser had gotten this letter from Peg Aylor when Chuck passed away. Al then gave the letter and a map to Jim Hatt and Clay in 1995. Jim wrote a pamphlet in 2005 called "The Untold Chapter in the Legend of Jenkin's Lost Lode". Clay wrote the foreword. Jim made a post about this over on DUSA, where he provides the letter verbatim. Thomas Glover also talks about this on pg. 188 of his book "Treasure Tales of the Superstitions".

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Greg:
Just to clarify Splichal's age, he was born on 12 Mar 1919, so for sure he was 18 in the summer of 1937 when he was in the mountains with Storm. He was listed as a freshman at Emporia State in 38/39 school year, and a member of the class of 1942 in the 39/40 school year. He apparently left school early and got a job at the Jefferson Center School in 1940.

And, his presence in the Supes in Sep of 1937 was confirmed in George Snell's 23 JUL 1957 letter to Chuck Aylor. In the letter, Snell mentions Splichal a few times. So we know that Storm and Snell agree on the time-frame Frank was in the mountains in 1937.

Not to go over old ground, but for folks following along: Snell had written Chuck Aylor in 1957 regarding some questions Chuck had asked him on "Jenkin's Lost Lode". Snell and Splichal had accompanied Storm and Bill Jenkins in Sep of 1937, trying to find the place where Jenkins had found his gold specimen.

Storm concealed some things about Jenkin's Lost Lode in his Book "Thunder God's Gold", which Snell was explaining to Aylor in the letter.

Al Reser had gotten this letter from Peg Aylor when Chuck passed away. Al then gave the letter and a map to Jim Hatt and Clay in 1995. Jim wrote a pamphlet in 2005 called "The Untold Chapter in the Legend of Jenkin's Lost Lode". Clay wrote the foreword. Jim made a post about this over on DUSA, where he provides the letter verbatim. Thomas Glover also talks about this on pg. 188 of his book "Treasure Tales of the Superstitions".

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Great work Jim: I just emailed the Pinal County Historical Society asking if they have any files, records, or historical data on Frank Splichal. I will let you know if I get a reply. Cordially, Gregory E. Davis

 

[Gregory E. Davis]

Good afternoon all: I just realized after doing some research in my files that there are two Snell's. There is George C. Snell of Kansas who accompanied Barry Storm and then there is a George M. Snell of Torrance California who wrote extensity to Chuck Slease who lived in Phoenix about the Lost Dutchman Mine. Those letters are from the Al Reser Collection. Cordially, Gregory E. Davis